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I just purchased a 1/144 Minicraft MD-80 to model as an American Airlines I flew on with my young son from NY to San Diego in 1989. It was NMF with gray engines and tail cone. I read where someone said the Eastern Express had better detailing than the Minicraft? I currently have an Eastern Express L1011-200 on my bench and find that hard to believe, my L1011 is nice but hardly well detailed and LOTS of flash and “grease” marks on the fuselage, mold release agent? Anyways my main concern is the tail cone, they used 2 types. One was conical and the other was a wedge shape, and I have seen both in 1989 pictures on Airliner.net.I have one here on this site in my photos and used the conical one. I guess the wedge was a later model addition?
Also who makes good PE for antennas and wheel stone guards? Thanks-John
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Hi Jon,
If you flew on it in 1989, it’s far more likely that your aircraft had the old DC-9 style pointy tailcone. The “screwdriver” tailcone came about with the MD87/88 IIRC. AA retrofitted a bunch of their older MD80s with the screwdriver later on because it was more aerodynamic and had less induced drag, but that retrofit process didn’t get going in earnest until at least the early aughts. (And AA produced the replacement screwdriver tailcones themselves at their Tulsa facility.) If you look at pictures from even the late 90s, the overwhelming majority of AA’s Mad Dogs had the old pointy cone.
Misha
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Thanks, the one I modeled in 2008 had the pointy cone shape not the screwdriver type. The sad part is I had a picture of the plane before we boarded it in 1989 but it’s long lost along with my son’s plastic AA wings!-John
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Hi Jon…
I wrote that the EE MD-80 was a bit more detailed than the MC kit; you may have read that comment in one of my posts about the kit. I finished the kit in March of 2020, posted some pics here in the cafe, but also posted a narrative about the specific airplane I built in Britmodeller. I do indeed stand behind the statement that the EE kit is a bit more detailed, and in face, a bit more “correct” than the MC kit. Both kits are very good and most assuredly acceptable, but I chose the EE kit because of better molding. Specifically, I like the static dischargers molded on nose, the landing bear is better detailed, and the engines are a bit more accurate in size. There were (are) several issues with the EE kit that make it a bit challenging, like wing assembly and fuselage joining, nose gear attachment at the very beginning of construction…but it was worth the extra and careful effort in the end. To each his own, I suppose. I used the lit supplied screw driver tail, the FOD guards on the main gear, and utilized the Platz PE parts for the MD-87 for the nose gear guard, nose strakes, and engine side strakes. Metallic Details makes a decent PE sprue as well. Take a look at the post below…you can see the close ups and details.
Paul
https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235069999-1144-scale-american-airlines-md-80/
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Thanks, I neither read your kit reviews at Brit Modeler nor here. It was elsewhere but the molding of the EE MD-80 looks superb as compared to my EE L-1011-200. They definitely have improved. If I had known how good it was I would have picked up the EE kit. I plan on doing an Allegiant MD-87 so when that comes about I will definitely look into an EE kit. I am debating closing up the gear on the Minicraft kit and putting it on a stand….I have limited room but on a stand takes up less “floor space” and it can bet put between 2 wheels down planes with no problem.-John
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